Ever since I installed Forceware 275.33, the highest I've seen my GTX470 run at is 405MHz! Even when I run GPU folding it stays at 405MHz. And when I turn on Furmark? The memory clock DROPS to 162MHz*4 from 950MHz*4 (GDDR5). GPU-Z and Afterburner report the same things. Can anybody confirm this?

Didn't help after all. Turns out if I run MSI Afterburner and mess with the clocks, some time after I close it, the speed drops to 405MHz/850MHz on the RAM and when I stop GPU folding, it becomes 405MHz/162MHz. Then I restart GPU folding, and then the clocks don't budge from 405/162, even though I set them to stock or overclocked settings. This only happened with 275.33.

No it isn't. It's running very well and all temps are at normal levels, with my Gelid Icy Vision (40 idle 60 load) and with the stock cooler (~70 idle 96 load), which I put back on because the fan on the Icy Vision won't stay in its hub anymore (it fell out when I was checking the computer, and within a few seconds I turned it off, so it's definitely not heat damage). In fact I recently just did a case transplant and dusting/cleaning regime on the whole machine. I'll report this issue to nVidia - I reported an issue to Intel about their GMA950 before, they didn't give two **** about it.

Problem reproduced. I run folding GPU at stock speeds, launch Afterburner for the first time since boot, tweak clocks to 770 core, half an hour later, I check, it's still running at 770MHz. Then I stop folding on the GPU, wait for the clocks to drop to 405MHz, memory speed doesn't change, I start it again, the clocks don't ramp up - they stay at 405MHz. Then I stop the folding client again, this time the memory drops down to 162MHz from 850MHz, and I start the folding client again, the clocks don't come up.

Not sure what's causing it, but can give you some ideas to try.Uninstall the drivers.Run a respectable driver cleaner. (some of them have been reported to cause problems, but this may be the only way to get rid of hidden settings not removed by the uninstaller.)Submit a support ticket with the manufacturer.Check the card's bios/firmware settings. It may have been screwed up by a tweak utility.Don't use Afterburner, try an alternative like nvidia inspector.

My 4870 died from a similar situation. AMD's drivers may have screwed up the power saving profiles (quickly fixed in next release), and my card stayed clocked at maximum causing it to burn out. I got a 6850 out of it, so I'm not complaining. I ended up buying a 470 while waiting for the replacement, so the 6850 isn't really getting used.

I sometimes wonder if some of these problems aren't deliberate. I know nvidia disabled multitexturing on the tnt2 to promote the geforce, back in the day.